Method of producing pictures, designs, &amp;c.



110.853.863. PATENTED MAY 14, 1907.

T. A. & J. B. GONNOLLY. METHOD OF PRODUCING PICTURES, DESIGNS, 6w.

APPLICATION FILED 00m 1906.

' WITNESSES INVENTOR s,

J JZMMKM To all whom it rrtay concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS A. OoNNoLLY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

THOMAS A. OON N OLLY AND JOSEPH B. CONN OLLY, OF WASHINGTON,

' DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

METHOD OF PRODUCING PICTURES, DESIGNS, ac.

and JOSEPH B. OoNNoLnY, citizens of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Producing Pictures, Designs, &c., of which the following is a specification.

Our invention has relation to photography and photo-mechanical processes, and has for its object the provision of novel methods for the photo-mechanical production of prints or impressions similar in appearance to photo-lithographic or half tone work and having the characteristics of both, the means and methods employed by us being comparatively simple and inexpensive and of such a nature as to be easily practiced without the use of expensive apparatus or the employment of more than ordinary skill.

Our invention is believed to be meritorious both for artistic and industrial purposes.

Our invention relates primarily to the pro duction and utilization of a pigment distributing medium in the nature of a pervious film or web bearing an image of the pictorial object to be printed and formed by photographic means, such film or Web being used to distribute pigment or color for printing purposes upon a surface which can either be a printing surface from which impressions may be taken or a sheet which will be itself Y the pictorial representation or print.-

Our invention relates, furthermore, to the provision andutilization as a prlfiting surface,

, or surface from which prints or impressions H1 pigment may be taken, of an absorbent material, such as gelatin and glycerin combined and formin a gelatinous mass, which being charged wit the proper pigment distributed upon it by means of a p otographically produced pervious film or web, will give repeated prints or im ressions without the necessity of re-inking t e surface for each impression. ,Thissecond feature of our invention involves the application and use for photo-mechanical purposes of a. duplicating apparatus, such as a hectograplh, which may be made according to any of t e well known methods for producing hectographic printing surfaces, and the novelty'in its use and ap-' plication in our invention consists in chargingsuch hectograph with pigment or color- I ing matter through the medium of a photo- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 4, 1906. Serial No. 337,480.

Patented May 14, 1907.

graphically produced device in the nature of a stencil or other photographically produced sheet, film, or web, through which pigment corresponding in its pictorial characteristics to' the subject photographed, may be conveyed to the hectographic surface and so impressed upon or -caused'to be absorbed therein as to give repeated prints or impresslons.

Our invention accordingly consists, first, in the provision, as an expedient'in photo-mechanical processes, of a web film or 1ts equivalent of a pervious. nature which may be used as a medium for conveying and distributing coloring matter to and over a suitable surface, such. film or web bein in fact a-photographically roduced stencil capable of being handled wit out injury to the substance of which it is composed and which may be laid upon a surface, such as a sheet of paper or hecto raph, and the surface upon which it is laid t en imprinted by the passage through the openor' pervious portions of the web of suitable p'gment or coloring matter. Sec- 0nd, in the method or process of producing such films, webs or stencils. .Third, in the method of utilizing such Webs, films or stencils, either for impressing the surface to pro- .duce a print or impression direct, or for grap with pigment from which prints or impressions may afterward be taken.

Our invention is based on the discovery that if a sheet of suitable material, such as an open work fabric, like bolting cloth, wire gauze, netting, perforatedIpaper, or other pervious or perforate material, is coated with a photo-sensitive substance, such as bichromatized gelatin, glue or gum, and exf'char ing a body orsurface', such as ahectoposed under a photographic plate orother partially transparent subject, or ln'a camera, and then washed, the soluble portions will be removed in proportion to the de ee which they have been affected by the light, while the insoluble portions will remain adherent to the web or foundation sheet and will present an image or pattern of the subject photographed or copied, such. pattern or pictorial mage being made up of closed and open portions of the web, the web becoming in fact a stencil or reticulated copy of the subject from which it has been photograph'ically produced.

Our invention is further based on the fact that a sheet or web so treated, as above described, may be utilized as a medium for imposing'coloring matter upon a suitable receptive-surf'ace, from which other copies may be :taken, and that the passage of coloring matter or pigment through the ph'otographically produced pervious-web may be effected under conditions heretofore unknown in the' photographic or photo-mechanical arts and with effects marvelously fine and attractive.

More briefly stated, but without intending .to limit ourselves more than the state of the art or the importance of our invention demands, our invention consists in producing a photographic stencil, and taking impressions of the object photographically formed on the stencil.

In carrying our invention into effect for v the production of the photographic stencil,

we proceed as follows: I/Ve coat a suitable net work or open woven fabric, such as bolting cloth which we have found best adapted for the purpose, with a suitable photo-sensitive substance, such as bichromatized gelatin, or

then after the coatin 1 sheet to the action of llght under the subject glue, so as to entirely fill the pores of the cloth and leave a smooth, even surface and is dry expose such to be copied, such as a photo raphic negative or positive or a sheet o paper 'upon coating by washing in water, thus leaving the web artially closed and artially open, the relation, size and distribution of the open and closed portions being such that the web becomes an open transparency or stencil. Where the web or'film has been ex osed to the highest lights and its sensitize coating rendered insoluble, the; washing of the web leaves such parts of the film solid and adherent to the fabric. Other portions which have been exposed to less light and thus rendered artially insoluble, instead of remaining so id upon the web, are preforated, the perforations bemgof a size and proximity I proportioned to the degree of light to which the coating has been subjected in the printing. These characteristics are in a great imeasure apparent to the eye when the Washed filmor web is viewed by transmitted light, but the gradation of the perforations corresponds so exactly or approximately to the degrees of shade or tone that the effect produced when the web, has been rinted and washed, does not fully appear to t e eye.

In the ordinary and most advantageous method of producing the web or pervious film for the purposes for which our invention is adapted the sensitized web is exposed to the action of light under a photographic ositive or trans arency, so that after washing out the solub e portions the high lights of the trans arency are re resented on the web or stencil y the insolub e coating, the deepest shades or blacks by the entirely open work on the web and the medium shades or half tones by the partially washed out and finely perforated ortions of the gelatinous film of the web. he effect of light of different degrees of intensity, such as would be allowed to pass through a photographic negative or transparency, is to produce such a difference in the film or web between the portions corresponding to the different depths of shade of the negative or transparency that when the web is used as a stencil and coloring matter carefullypassed through it, the effect will be a photo-mechanical print or impression having the characteristics of li ht and shade of the ob'ect from which the p otograph was originally taken. The netting, aside from its use as a supporting medium for the gelatinous film, serves incidentally and. very effectually to break up the lights and shadows, so that a print or impression, resulting from the practice of a process in which a fabric or net work is employed, bears a striking similarity to the half tone work of zinc or copper plates.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings which are intended to illustrate so much of our invention as is capable of pictorial representation, Figure 1 is a face VlG W of a pervious photographic web or stencil pro- 'duced according to the process described,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a hectograph bearing the im rint or impression produced by the use of t e photographic stencil shown in Fig. 1,"and Fig. 3 is a representation of the rint or impression taken from the hecto rap i.

We have found silk bolting cloth of very fine regular mesh to be the best, easily available material for use as a web or foundation sheet for a photographic stencil. The material which we have found most serviceable and easily managed as a coating for the bolting cloth is bichromatized fish glue, such as Le Pages liquid glue, which may be sensitized with bichromate of potash or bichromate of ammonia.

We have. been accustomed in our experiments to sim ly coat bolting cloth with the bichromatize glue by means of a brush, taking care to fill all the interstices of the cloth, so that when the film is dry the interstices of the boltin cloth will be entirely' filled with sensitize glue. In coating the cloth, however, in a factory other means will be provided for the urpose of evenly coating the surface and filing all the interstices. After the bolting clothis coated and dried, it

IIS

- much of the soluble'portions of the film is' washed out as to leave a sufficiently perfectthrough it, t

tion. The web or cliche during this other means which will thoroughly surface of the stenc is exposedunder the photographic plate, film or sheet, preferably a photo aphic positive or transparency and printef in the usual way, as in printing a film for half. tone work or for photo-lithographic 'purposes. A suitable actinometer may be used to determine the amount of rinting to which the film is sub 'ected, or this may be determined according to the judgment and experience of the printer. After removal of the film from the printing frame it is washed in/water, preferably slightly warm or tepid, until so stencil for further operations.

We have been accustomed. after washing the film to subject it toa bath consisting of a solution of bichromate of potash or bichromate of ammonia, sometimes using chrome alum to harden the film and to then ex ose the fullydeveloped ne ative stencil or c ich to the action of sun-lig t, so as to render hard and insoluble to the greatest degree such portions of the film as may not have been rendered wholly insoluble in the'printin operaardening or baking operation may be held in a stretching frame or it may after hardening be smoothed orevened out by means of a flat. iron or heated burnishing rollers, or b any atte'n and smooth the web. The photographic stencil isnow in a condition to be applied to the hectograph which, hav ng been pro erly moistened, will is now required is to apply to the stencil a suitable we have lgment or co or1ng material; and ound that anilin dye powders are the most serviceable .and convenient and give the best results. The anilin powder used.

as a material wherewith to charge ,or supply the hectograph is conveniently passed through the stencll by means of a soft brush or by pouring the owder .upon the upper if and agitating it slightly or by blowing the powder against the surface of the web. We have found that fine powdered colors will pass readily through extremely fine perforations in the stencil and produce upon the hectographa picture more or less perfect accord to the character of the'stencil and the sllffil and judgment employed by th operator. After the stencil has been. appliedto' the hectogra and coloring matter passed e stencil is lifted from the hectograph and the latter then used in giving pressions by simply laying upon its surface s eet of paper, ressing the paper upon the inked picture an. then removing it. By the use of appropriate coloring matter many impressions may be taken from the hectograph Without reinking. When the hectograph is exhausted of coloring matter it may be -washed and the stencil again applied, or, if

is desirable to take a number of impressions upon asingle sheet'of paper, or upon several sheets of paper at a time, the stencil may be applied successively to different ortions of the surface of the hectograph, an a number of impressions made thereon.-

We have found that a gelatinous, or glutinous, or other plastic film, when properly prepared and treated, has remark ble tenacity and durability and after bei g used may be washed and used again and again with but comparatively little, if any, deterioration. By applying coloring matter or powder of different colors to different parts of the stencil and carefully outlining and dividing ofi the difierent portions of the picture attractive efiects may be, produced in different col is depending upon the skill and artistic jud ment of the colorist. stencil is used for the shaded portions of the picture a positive stencilmay be used inadditionx thereto and the light or local colors passed through the latter, it being understood that when the negative stencil is used those portions of this stencil which correspond to thehighlights of the picture will be practically impervious to the passage of coloring matter. The positive stencil, which is applied to the hectograph after the negative stencil has been utilized, has those portions corresponding to the high lights open, and hence the colorin matter for the high lights can be passed tfi graph.

We have-suggested the use of a photographic positive-or transparency from which to print the web of which the stencil is made, as the portions of the stencil corresponding to the transparent portions of the photographic plate or film become the solid portions of the stencil and by resisting the passage of the coloring matter to the hectograph leave the portions of the hectograph under said solid portions of the. stencil free from color. We may, howeveryby a modification of'the rocess described use an ordinary photographic negative from which to print a stencil and thus produce what may be termed a positive stencil, the stencil as previously described being relatively a negative stencil. In using such positive stencil, we do not pass coloring matter through the stenoil, but we first apply coloring matter to the hectograph, then apply the stencil or web and then pass through the interstices of the stencil a material such as soapstone which will cover or shield certain portions of the inked surface of the hectograph and thus produce by the distribution of the soapstone a picture upon the hectograph from which impressions may be taken as previously described. The soapstone has the effect of preventing the inked or coloring matter over which it lies from being taken up'by the pa- If a negative erethrough to the hecto ICO per on which the impressions are made and these nnpressionsare consequently positives,

having aracteristics slightly different from prints produced by the rst described process. i

, scribed are made up of points or dots of color corresponding to the perforations or interstices of the stencil and appearing very similar to certain kinds of half tone Work produced by the use of screens. In our process the bolting cloth or nettin in a great measure supplies the purpose 0 a screen, such as used in photo-mechanical printing, but we have found it advantageous in some cases to use a screen, either by interposing a suitable screen between the sensitized stencil film and tensityin the "high lights.

the negative or transparency, or by taking the negative or transparency with the aid of a screen in a camera in the usual 'Way known to and practiced by photo-mechanical printers. The use of' the screen produces better distribution of the shades and prevents too great density in the shades and too great in- 1. The art of producing pictorial represen- 1 tations, consisting in subjecting a sensitized of theobject to be copied to produce an imsheet to the action of light through a positive age, then removing a portion of the sheet then hardening the sheet and then passing coloring matter through the interstices so formed onto a suitable receptive surface.

2. The art of producing photo mechanical prints or impressions, consisting in subjecting a photo sensitized sheet or web to the action of light under aphotographic positive to produce an image, than dissolving the soluble portions of the sheet then resensitizing the sheet and hardening the same and then passing coloring matter through the interstices of the sheet onto a receptive surface.

3. The art of producing photo mechanical prints or impressions, consisting in subjecting a photo sensitized sheet or Web to the action of light to produce an image, then dissolving the soluble portions of the sheet, and then passing coloring matter through the interstices of the sheet onto a receptive surface and then printing the prints or impressions from said surface.

' 4. The art of producing photo mechanical or pigment prints or impressions, which consists in producing by photographic agency a web or sheet bearing an image to be printed, applying said sheet to a suitable receptive surface for pigment, conveying soluble pigment or coloring matter to the said receptive surface by means of said sheet and then taking impressions of the photographic image in said pigment from the surface upon which it has been laid and from the one charge of color or pigment.

5. The art of producing photo mechanical or pigment prints or impressions, which consists in inking a hectograph to correspond with the print or impression, through the in ediuni of a photographically exposed and developed inking sheet, and then taking impressions from said hecto raph.

6. In photo mechanicsil or pigment printing, the process of duplicating prints consisting in impressing a photo image in soluble color or pigment upon the surface of a body containing a suitable solvent of said color or pigment, then taking impressions therefrom y the application and removal of the sheet upon which the print is to be taken without further inking or charging.

' 7. The process of producing hectographic copies, consisting in first making a stencil of the matter to be copied, applying this stencil to a hecto aphic surface, applying a hectographic co or upon the exposed side of the stencil, and then making copies from the hecto raphic surface in the usual manner.

n testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

THOMAS A. CON'NOLLY. JOSEPH B. CONNOLLY.

Witnesses:

I. HIMEs, W. E. WRIGHT. 

